Western’s Freeride Team is having the best season in it’s seven year history, and that’s saying something. In 2008 a group of Western students banded together to compete and travel as a team. The latest iteration of this group, under the tutelage of coaches Ed Dujardin and Caleb Woodworth, is storming across North America and accepting nothing but podiums everywhere they go.
Wednesday’s Men’s Snowboarding Podium. 1st-Zach Bare, 2nd-Dustin Eldridge, 3rd-Joey Odneal, 4th-Peter Noon.
With terrible snow conditions at nearly every host resort, many event promoters have pulled the plug and shelved their events until next season. Thanks to the hard work of Patti Hensley and the events crew at Crested Butte Mountain Resort along side the unwavering commitment to excellence by the Crested Butte Ski Patrol, the Freeride World Qualifier (FWQ) event s last week at Crested Butte were a go.
Max Durtschis’s Finals Run. Photo Courtesy of Joel Matuszczak.
Western’s Freeriders took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their training and commitment on their home mountain. These athletes stepped up Wednesday for the FWQ 2* and snagged 8 of the 12 possible podium spots in skiing and snowboarding. In Thursday and Fridays FWQ 4* competition, these same athletes returned to the hill against some of the best riders in the country and did not disappoint. Senior Connor Michael had his best competition appearance ever, finishing in 4th place in men’s skiing right across from senior Dustin Eldridge in 4th place in men’s snowboarding. Sophomore Sierra Sawyer took 3rd place in the FWQ 4* (after winning Wednesday’s FWQ 2*) and launched herself into 3rd place in the North American FWQ points race. Freshman Max Durtschi had an eye-popping finals run and catapulted himself from 25th place to a 6th place finish in the event. This one run on Crested Butte’s famed Headwall put Durtschi back in the drivers seat for the North American FWQ points race. Durtschi is also ranked 4th in the world in the FWQ Series.
Created with flickr slideshow.
This week Durtschi and Sawyer will be traveling with Coach Ed to Kicking Horse, Brittish Columbia where they hope to lock down a coveted berth onto the Freeride World Tour where they would be joining former Western teammate, Francesca Pavillard-Cain.
Check out the links below for more information:
Full Crested Butte 2* Results
Full Crested Butte 4* Results
International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association (IFSA)
Freeride World Tour (FWT)
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